The name of the famous waterfall Goðafoss in Iceland is closely connected with one of the most important event in Icelandic history, the conversion to Christianity from heathendom or “the old custom” in the year 1000.

The Lawspeaker Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði was faced with the task of settling the growing disputes between Christians and those who worshipped the old Nordic gods. He himself was an heathen priest. Nevertheless he decided that all of Iceland should be Christian.

He dispensed of his heathen gods by throwing them into the falls in a symbolic act of the conversion. According to the legend, this is how Goðafoss got its name.